ABB Transportation

Biography

ABB Transportation was the rail-traction division of Asea Brown Boveri, the Swedish-Swiss multinational, formed in 1988 by the merger of ASEA and BBC Brown Boveri. From 1989 ABB acquired BREL's locomotive-building business, including Crewe Works and York Carriage Works, and held them until 1995. ABB Transportation supplied or contributed to the Class 92 Channel Tunnel locomotive, the Class 323 EMU and other late-BR rolling stock projects.

In 1995 ABB Transportation merged with Daimler-Benz Transportation to form ADtranz.

Locomotives designed

British Rail Class 165 Networker Turbo — BR Class 165 "Networker Turbo" — two- or three-car DMU built 1990–92 by BREL York. 76 sets. Used on Chiltern and Thames Valley services. Many still in service.
British Rail Class 166 Networker Turbo — BR Class 166 "Networker Turbo" — three-car DMU built 1992 by ABB York. 21 sets. Used on Thames Valley services (originally GWR Reading–Oxford/Reading–Newbury). Many still in service.
British Rail Class 325 — BR Class 325 — four-car postal EMU built 1995–96 by ABB. 16 sets. Royal Mail postal trains. Withdrawn from postal service 2003–04 but retained for parcels traffic; some still operational in 2026.
British Rail Class 365 — BR Class 365 "Networker Express" — four-car dual-voltage EMU built 1994–96 by ABB York. 41 sets. Originally built for both Great Northern and Kent Coast services with switch-mode AC/DC capability. Withdrawn 2020. Some preserved.
British Rail Class 365 Networker Express — Reference to Class 365 Networker — Express variant.

Born	1 January 1988
Died	31 December 1995
Nationality	Multinational (Swedish-Swiss)
Employer	ABB (Asea Brown Boveri), UK operations at the former BREL Crewe Works